Emergency umbrella



Oct'. 2, 1945. L. PIECHOWSKI EMERGENCY UMBRELLA 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 31, 1945 INVENTOF LEO/w: QEo/aws/n M 44% MIL Arroeuevs.

Patented Oct. 2,1945

, UNlT i ji f PATENT omen LconaTiechowski, 'Milwaukee, Wisyassignor of --one-half=-to Adley Hafemeister, Wauwatosa,

Wis.

ApplicationJanuary 31, 1945, Serial No. 575,445 Claims. (01. 135-20) My invention relates to-an improved emergency umbrella. I

Various. attemptshave been made to produce umbrellas which can be carried in an ordinary hand bag or luggage barrier, but they have not been commercially successful for the reasonthat they have failed .to meet one or more of the'following requirements. Y

First: An emergencyumbrella, as distinguished from umbrellas of standardutype, must be"sufficiently inexpensive to enable the user to throw away at least the umbrella top after a single emergency use. v r r Second: The top must .-be foldable into a package of such short length thatit can .be'carried in .an. ordinary hang :bag with-minimum increase to the weight of thebag and its contents-and to the bulk of the latter, j v

Third: The handle must be of "such a character that it can be packagedwith the folded umbrella top, and it must not-only-be capable ofsupporting the top but of clamping the parts'of the latter together and holdingthem securely in the extended position during the period of emergency.

of being clampingly secured together, 1 handily, quickly-and'with good job results by any-ordinary person. I

with successive tops.

vThe object of mil-invention is .to,-provide an emergency umbrella which will "satisfactorily meet all of the-above stated requirements;

In the following description, reference is had to the'accompanyirrgdrawings, in which Figure l is a perspective view of my improved umbrella handle, with the central portion broken away.

Figure 2 is a view of a reduced scale of a paper blank from which my umbrella top may be made, showing the same partially pleated.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a completely pleated blank, transversely folded medially in the process of forming a package of a size to be carried in a hand bag or luggage carrier.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the completed package, with the handle infolded, preparatory to storage in a hand bag.

Figure 5 is a perspective view illustrative of the manner in which the top is unfolded preparatory to attachment to the handle in position for use.

Figure 6 is a perspective view illustrative of the handle attaching operation.

Fourth: The handle and top .must'be capable- Fifth: the handlemust 'be-lsufficiently durable so so that it can be repeatedly used in combination Figure '7 is a perspective 'view of anunfolded umbrella top with the handleiattached.

Figure 8 is :a cross sectional view. of the:kerfed portion. of the handlashowing aifragment of a clampingly engaged top as seen from the .under side. 7

Like parts are identified by the samereferenee characters throughout the several views.

My improved handle comprises a rod 1 Oypreferably formed of woodwand provided with a'keri H in one end portion whereby thatzendrportion is divided into fork arms Hand I3, the extremi-' ties of which are beveled as indicated-at l4 tofacilitate' pressing these. arms intosclamping relation to portions "of i an umbrella top,.as:herein'after explained. If desired, the handle :may be. banded by a ring l6, preferably formediof resilientiwlre and made slightly expansible by an outwardly extending crimp or loop IL: "Idienorm'al diameter of the ring ises'lightlydess .than the diameterof the handle H3, butthe outward bend Il. allows it to be expanded forced onto. the handle, andallowed to resiliently shrink so that it will retain its position at any point .to. which :itmay be manually adjusted. Normally this ringiwill beuadjusted substantially at the base of. a kerf H -to prevent splitting of the'handle belowthe fork arms when the latter are being forced into clamping relation to the umbrella top. 2

The top of my improvedumbrella is formed by folding a rectangular sheet ofv paper in opposite ficiently waterproof to "ensure that it :will not=be-' come pulpy during a prolonged rain storm.

Upon completing the pleating operation, I press the pleats together, divide them into two groups, and fold them transversely about midway of the ends of the bars, as indicated at 24 in Figure 3. I then secure the ends 22 and 23 of the blank together, preferably by applying a strip of gummed tape 25 over their meeting margins.

Thereupon the free ends of the folded pleats may be pressed together and the two groups folded together to form a package, as shown in Figure 4, preferably with the handle l0 interposed as shown in that view. If desired, the pleats may be held about the handle by a rubber band 26, whereby to form a unitary package.

When the parts are to be assembled in the form of an umbrella, the rubber band, if present, will be removed, together with the handle, and the 'folded top allowed torresume the shape in which 7 it is shown in Figure 3. Thereupon it is grasped dleshown in the-drawings is by both hands at the fold 24 and the free ends of the paired pleats or bars 20 and 2| partially separated at the middle of the series on each side of the center line by one finger of each hand while pressing downwardly with the thumbs at the middle of the fold 24, as shown in Figure 5.. This pressure causes the free ends of the bars or pleats 20 and 2| to swing outwardly through an arc of ninety degrees to the position in which they are shown in Figure 6, in which position the portions 24, will occupy planes at right angles to those occupied at the beginning of the unfolding operation, and may be pressed together by the finger and thumb of one hand while the arms I2 and I3 of the handle fork are being applied to theopposite side, as shown in Figure 6, to clamp these folded portions 24 together and also securethe j handle to the top.

, The pressure of the thumb and finger may then be released and the completed umbrella inverted to position for use, as indicated in Figure 7. The clamping pressure of the handle fork arms l2 and I3 holds the portions 24 of the bars 20 and 2| together, as best shown in Figure 8,

, and the bars extend radially from these clamped central portions in pairs disposed in angular planes of V-shaped cross section alternately di- Vergent upwardly and downwardly with progressively increasing divergence from the center to the'periphery, as clearly shown in Figure'7.

The clampin forkarms l2 and I3 will tend to spread when forced into engagement with the portions 24 of the top, but if the band It is used,

it :may be pushed upwardly to force the arms toward each other and increase the clamping pressure. a I

While it is pssible to repackage the paper top and use it'f'more than'once, particularly if the unfolded top is merely used as a sun shade, the expense of producing the top is so slight that it will ordinarily be thrown'away after a single period of use. If desired, ordinary clothes pins may be used as handles and thrown away after each period of use, although the elongated hanpreferred.

. I'claim:

1. In combination, a foldable umbrella top having V-shaped channels of vprogressivelyincreasing width and correspondingly reduced depth extending alongradial lines from its central portion to its periphery, the walls of the channels converging into parallel relation to each other across the central portion of the top, and a detachable handleprovided with clamping arms adapted to press said'central portions of the channel walls together, said channel walls on each side of the center being adapted'to swing into complete parallelism and form a package of a length equal to the radius of the top when the handle is detached.

2. In combination, a foldable umbrella top comprising a rectangular sheet of flexible material, subdivided by parallel pleats into two series of integrally connected bars transversely folded midway oftheir ends and with the ends of the sheets permanently secured together, the bars of the two series being adapted to form a circular top when their free ends are swung outwardly through a degree are and their folded portions pressed together in parallel relation, with the bars extending radially in the form of V- shaped channels of progressively varying width and depth, and a handle provided with clamping means engageable with the parallel portions of the bars and adapted to hold them securely in said parallel relation.

3. The combination set forth in claim 2, in

which the handle is of approximately the same.

length as the folded bars and provided with a kerf in one end portion of a width to snugly straddle the'folded midway portions of the bars and removably receiving said' portions therein.

4. In combination, an' emergency umbrella comprising a rectangular sheet of paper reversely folded at'intervals into two series of. parallel pleats and normally transversely folded to form a package, the pleats at the ends of the sheet being permanently connected along one margin and said pleats when swung outwardly at their free ends through an arc of 90 degrees being adapted to form a circular top with the central portion oftheir folded portions in parallel relation, and a forked handle adapted to receive said folded portions between its fork arms to be clamped together thereby.

5. In combination, an emergency umbrella comprising a rectangular sheet of paper reversely folded at intervals into two series of" parallel pleats and normally transversely folded to'form apackage, the pleats at the ends of the sheet being permanently connected along the margin and 'said pleats when swung outwardly at their free ends through an arc of 90 degrees being adapted to form a circular top with their folded portions in parallel relation, and a forked handle adapted to receive said-folded portions between its fork arms to'be clamped together thereby, said handle having a resiliently yielding band-slidably mounted thereon and movable into pressure engagement with the fork arms to increase their 'clamping pressure upon the'engaged portions of the pleats.

LEONA PIECHOWSKI. 

